Genre: Found-Footage

The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / 1 Comment

Upon its initial release, the original ‘Blair Witch Project’ blew many audiences away with its realistic depiction of found-footage horror, subsequently leading many audience members to believe that the events they were watching on-screen actually took place, making for a truly terrifying experience. However, now, many years after its first appearance, the film’s reputation has significantly altered with both critics and audiences alike, as ‘The Blair Witch Project’ is definitely a film that lies outside of the usual horror clichés.

Plot Summary: When three student filmmakers travel to Burkittsville, Maryland, in attempt to produce a documentary based around the local urban legend of ‘The Blair Witch,’ they mysteriously disappear after traveling into the nearby Black Hills Forest, leaving only their footage behind to be discovered one year later…

Whilst ‘The Blair Witch Project’ wasn’t the original found-footage horror film, with the infamous exploitation flick; ‘Cannibal Holocaust,’ first introducing the horror subgenre in 1980. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was the first film to popularise the found-footage concept, as this film was at one point in time in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ for the largest box-office ratio, as the low-budget film only had a budget of around £45,000 and made back over £189 million, quickly spawning an inconsistent horror franchise despite the film’s only partially complete backstory for its creature and setting.

The three main cast members of Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams (who all share their real names with their characters), are all tremendous throughout the film, as while their character’s don’t receive nowhere near as much development as they should considering how much screen-time we spend with them, each one of the actors do give the impression they are becoming more tormented and frustrated the longer they remain in the Black Hills Forest. The main reason the film’s protagonists don’t receive much characterisation, however, is actually due to the film’s production itself, as with the film not focusing very heavily on story, the actors were given no more than a thirty-five page outline of plot points rather than a full screenplay. So, as filming continued, the cast just played out various scenes, only having little knowledge of the mythology behind ‘The Blair Witch’ and improvising the vast majority of their lines.

Practically the entirety of the cinematography by Neal L. Fredericks is exactly what you’d expect from a found-footage horror, featuring an abundance of both shaky and out-of-focus shots, further adding to the idea that just behind the lens is a group of amateur student filmmakers (with some scenes even being shot by the cast themselves). In addition to the hand-held camerawork, the film’s visuals are also quite distinctive when it comes to its visual quality, as throughout the duration of the film, many shots remain incredibly grainy and occasionally even switch to a completely greyscale colour palette, which again, whilst adding to the realism of the film being a no-budget student documentary, does ensure the absence of any genuinely attractive shots.

Although it’s only heard during the film’s atmospheric end credits, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ does actually have an original score composed by Antonio Cora, but obviously being a found-footage horror, the film mostly aims to please with its sound design, as the sounds of crackling leaves and chirping birds are heard continuously. Interestingly, many of the eerie branch-cracking sounds heard at night even being made by the director and his friends simply walking up to the cast’s camp-perimeter and then tossing around twigs, rocks, and branches in various directions.

The main aspect that many will either admire or despise about ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ is its previously mentioned focus on realism and minimalist storytelling, as while the film does utilise its forest setting very effectively throughout the runtime, many who may be expecting a thrilling final act or possibly even a glimpse at ‘The Blair Witch’ herself will be greatly disappointed, as due to the story’s constant emphasis on realism, the film never actually provides any genuine evidence of the supernatural, with many of the film’s tense moments mostly relying on the darkness of the woods or the belligerent quarreling between the characters.

In summary, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ is certainly a fascinating horror film even if it isn’t always a successful one. As, to this day, this found-footage indie flick is a very divisive film for horror fans, with a 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has the highest-rating of any film that was also nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Picture. So, even with the cast’s impactful performances and ‘The Blair Witch’ herself being an intriguing urban legend, this is one horror that really depends on your personal taste. For myself, while I find the film far from perfect and considerably less compelling than many other iconic horrors, I can appreciate what this experimental piece of filmmaking (and its marketing) was trying to accomplish, and for that, I feel it’s worth at least one viewing for any fan of the genre. Final Rating: 6/10.

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Cloverfield (2008) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Personally, I’m not an enormous fan of found-footage horror films (especially when it comes to many modern horrors). However, ‘Cloverfield’ is a rare exception to this, as when this film was first announced, it was surrounded in mystery, as the images and clips that were released revealed literally nothing about the film’s plot. Now, years after its release, we know it’s a large-scale classic monster throwback, all brought-together with a dark atmosphere, clearly inspired by classic monster flicks, such as the original ‘Godzilla,’ ‘King Kong’ and ‘Gorgo.’

Plot Summary: After the U.S. Defense Department discover a videotape in the former Central Park, the located footage reveals a group of friends celebrating a surprise farewell party in the apartment of ‘Rob Hawkins’ in Lower Manhattan, that is until the footage continues on, and soon begins to show an event far more disturbing…

The film opens with a U.S. Defense Department logo, shortly followed by footage of our main protagonist and his girlfriend in bed. This blending of old footage mixed in with the new footage of the attack is a great way of giving some development to the characters, alongside breaking up the large amounts of chaotic action the film sometimes falls into. The film’s reasoning for this is explained early on in it’s runtime, as the current tape we are watching is recording over another.

Aside from Lizzy Caplan and T.J. Miller, the rest of the cast are mostly unknown. I would say they all did a decent job, as the majority of their screen-time is consisted of running and panicking as they make their way through the streets of New York, however. I really enjoyed Lizzy Caplan’s performance, in particular, as her character ‘Marlena’ gets thrown into an intense and painful situation later in the story. This also results in one of the most disturbing/memorable scenes of the film. Unfortunately, the characters aren’t given a huge amount of development, aside from a few short scenes throughout the film.

Being a found-footage film as it is, the cinematography within the film is almost entirely hand-held. Usually utilising a large amount of camera movement to block the audience’s view of the creature in the early stages of the film. Which does really help build tension and excitement, as well as add to the overall mystery that initially surrounded the film. However, the constant and aggressive shaking of the camera can sometimes become a little overwhelming, even if it does result in some thrilling action scenes. The film obviously also doesn’t have an original score due to its found-footage style.

Another element of the film I quite is the design of the monster, as the design seen throughout the film is very original and really gives off a powerful and intimidating feel, which does enhance the film’s visuals. However, one element of the visuals I don’t enjoy is the film’s colour palette, as it can make the film feel a little too much like a typical action blockbuster or cliché horror at points.

The film does also have plenty of memorable moments throughout, as the film’s narrative goes on, New York City becomes more and more destroyed. This allows our group of characters to make their way through the monster’s path of destruction, avoiding dangerous areas and making fantastic use of the large sets and CG effects the film presents on-screen.

In summary, I quite enjoy ‘Cloverfield,’ although it’s now become part of a strange almost anthology-like film franchise with the likes of ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ and ‘The Cloverfield Paradox.’ The initial idea of a simple found-footage monster film always intrigued me, and I’m happy to say director Matt Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard all did a decent job here, as even though weak characterisation and overly shaky cinematography do let the film down somewhat, great tension building as well as the film’s superb level of realism and some brilliant creature designs, keep the film interesting enough to enjoy. Final Rating: 7/10.

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